Mike's Bike Blog

We've fallen a bit behind on the race reports, so this will be a cumulative report.

Driveway Springs Fling Race Series photos:
Jack took 3rd place for the series, he only made 3 or 4 of the races in the series but scored enough points to hold onto 3rd place.

Cedar Park Kids Triathlon photos:
Jack was 11th in the 11-12 year old category
Ethan was 16th in the 9-10 year old category
Zeb was 15th in the 7-8 year old category. Zeb crashed 1/2 way through the bike course when he was attempting to pass a group of riders and hit a cone. He lost time while the volunteers tried to talk him into riding back in the truck with them and he just wanted them to put his chain back on. They got the chain on and he finished the ride then posted the 5th fastest run time.

Ranger Triathlon photos:
Jack - 3rd (11-12)
Ethan - 10th (9-10)
Zeb - 8th (7-8)
We learned a hard lesson on this one. Normally we stick around for the awards presentation even if the boys are out of contention for a trophy. However this time we saw the results and they had Jack at 4th and the awards weren't slated to start for another 30 to 45 minutes. Everyone wanted to get home for lunch so we headed home. When we got home I saw the results were already posted and someone in Jack's category must have not done the appropraite bike laps or run as Jack was now 3rd!

This past weekend in Castroville, TX, just outside of San Antonio was the third running of the weekend races. Saturdays criterium is on a .7 mile jogging/bike path. The course is what I would consider flat with one small rise. The past 2 times they've held this event I've always pasted on it, it was just far enough of a drive that I couldn't justify the hotel expenses. However this time around under Holland Racing's direction they added a 10-14 year old 4/5 division to the mix. This category really seemed geared for the first time racers and the younger kids as the crit was 20 minutes and the road race on Sunday was 5 miles. This category was perfect for Jack and for Ethan to start his first USA Cycling race. So we packed up the family and headed over to San Antonio for a weekend of races.

The boys crit was scheduled to be the first race on Saturday however on Friday mother nature had other plans by snowing in Central Texas. Granted it had all melted by 4pm, the time we headed out, it was enough to warrant a change in schedule. Instead of having a 8:30 start the time was changed to 11am and all the juniors would start at the same time but be scored separately. One other change that was announced is that not only were they going to be running all juniors at the same time but the race would be 30 minutes. I was a little worried about Ethan and how'd he do with 10 extra minutes. Luckily their race was stopped around the 20 minute mark to get the kids off the course before the other juniors started to wind up their speed on the narrow course. In their category there were 2 other racers, Conner Herrington of King Racing Group and Marshall Petronilo Cyclelogic.

As the boys were getting ready to warm up Ethan came down with a migraine headache. We quickly gave him some medicine while Jack and I rode a few laps of the course before coming back to the car to pick up Ethan who was feeling much better.

The boys got off to a slow start as Conner and Marshall gunned it from the start. They didn't panic and quickly got into a groove and caught and passed Marshall. Jack was riding really good, but Ethan was having trouble shifting up to his big ring. So he spun the entire race at about 130 rpm as he couldn't shift down past his 14t either as they were blocked out. With 1 lap to go Jack was coming up to Ethan again and that was all the encouraging he needed and he pushed it even harder on the last lap as he lapped his brother. He wasn't too far behind the Conner the winner. Jack came in 2nd and Ethan 3rd.

Cat 4
My race was next as I was racing in the Cat 4. With about 10 minutes till the start I hopped on the open course to get a few laps in as warm up but as I came to the start/finish they were already lining up and I was already in the back. A position I didn't improve upon the entire race. For 50 minutes I was stuck in the back unable to improve my position much on the narrow course. There was really only 1 spot I would seem to make ground and that was on the 3rd corner. The pack would slow before the corner and go wide while I would not slow and take the inside corner and come out ahead but then would be sprinting into the wind. As soon as I would get ahead it would seem people in front were start to let a gap grow, especially into the wind section and fall off the back. That would leave me to catch back on. In all the jostling and bumps my Garmin rattled to the side of my stem so I couldn't see it, but I was so looking forward to downloading the data as it was 50 minutes of pure FTP riding. If I had to guess I had to average 300 watts. I ended up 21st. Even more disappointing was the fact that when I adjusted the Garmin it was off! I turned it on and it said the battery was low. It only captured 7 minutes of the 50 minute race, of those 7 minutes I was averaging 337 watts. Trevor Brooks 787 Racing won the race, but was later regulated to 5th place for not reporting to junior rollout. It was good to race with team mates, well I didn't race much with them as none of them were holding down the back of the pack with me, they were racing much smarter and were up at the front the entire time. The only time I rode near any of them was at the finish.

Sunday Road Race - Lambda, Lambda, Lambda
On Sunday first up was my Cat 4 race of 35 miles or 14 laps of the 2.5 mile course. In the race bible the profile for the course looked daunting with a monstrous hill at the finish and it was even described as a hill finish. I was worried for the boys, but when I checked it out on google earth I couldn't see what the profile was depicting. When we got to the venue we drove the course to get the lay of the land. The back side of the course was a slight incline but nothing the boys couldn't handle.

I felt good the entire time and was making a good effort to be up near the front. The only time I drifted back was on the 2nd to last lap when I was in the middle of the pack. We were coming up to the start/finish and the last lap when right in front of me was a huge pile up. I luckily was able to steer my way clear of the crash and I was able to catch onto the front group. It would appear that 1/2 the peloton was taken down either out or put so far back they weren't going to catch back on. That left about 15 to 20 of us to chase down a breakaway of 2 people. However we couldn't get organized. Trevor tried a couple times to get away but couldn't get away cleanly. In the end the chase fell a little short. In the end I placed 9th in the race.

The boys had a 5 mile race which was 2 laps of the course. Jack rode a good race but he was a little surprised to learn he took 3rd. He didn't realize one of the kids who lined up & started with the girls was actually in his race. As for Ethan when he came around for his 1st lap he was looking rough, but he finished strong in 5th. Ethan later said he got a headache on the first lap.

With 3 boys getting them sports equipment and gear can be an expensive undertaking. I'm always scanning craigslist and the txbra forum looking for used bikes as Jack will outgrow his 24" Felt very soon, I don't have much more room to raise the seat. I could probably keep him in it till the spring, but Ethan is ready to be riding on it. It's a better fit for him, but it too will probably get him through till the summer. He's only a few inches shorter than Jack.

The Felt is a little big for Zeb but he's pushing to take ownership of it. Zeb begs to be taken out to ride the road bike and surprisingly with the seat dropped all the way down he fits on it. He can only touch his tippy toes to the ground on one side while sitting on the saddle.

His hands aren't big enough to activate the breaks from the hoods but there's a secondary set on the top bars that he uses. That makes 2 bikes the Weiland's need, probably a 44 and 48.

Their size right now is kinda in a gap that's not easily fit. Fuji makes a youth 650 version of their Ace model. They would most likely fit into the 650 till they are 12 but I'm a little leary of the 650 tire size. I can't easily swap out wheels, for example I couldn't put my old PowerTap equipped wheel on their bikes as the wheel is a 700 not a 650. Plus in road races, crits and time trials they are mainly competing against boys riding 700 wheels and I'm sure there has to be some speed loss rolling smaller rims. Right now I'm looking at  the Jamis line of Ventura bikes as they seem to offer a good bike without breaking the bank.

When I saw a post from Rouse Bikes on their Junior Equipment Upgrade program I quickly read it in hopes it might be the holy grail. Here's the deal:

• 1st frame and fork is standard price and from their website that's about $1,800
• An additional frame can be purchased once per 12 calendar months at 30% below list price.
• The offer expires on the junior's 18th birthday

We're probably a few years away from getting the boys a carbon custom bike but I really like a company that will offer up a deal for junior racers.

Anybody have any other suggestions for companies that offer special deals or pricing for junior racers? I'd like to put together a resource list of such companies.